The Beginning Stages of...

The first few days of my time in Kyoto were spent seemingly either shopping or sleeping. The morning after my first night, I was awake at 5.30. The weather is still very much locked in summer mode as it’s bright and humid and everyone’s been bitten by mosquitoes. Looking out of the window, mountains seemed to have sprung up overnight, and there’s a shrine perched on the top of a far-off hill. Big crows/blackbirds/ravens (not sure what the different is) grip the railings and caw incessantly and sinisterly (I half expect them to burst through the window in Hitchcockian, or perhaps Resident Evil-esque, fashion). When I make my way towards the elevator, they have gone, but a dead insect, as long as my forefinger and twice as thick, lies where the murder had gathered. Leftovers, maybe?

I step outside into morning Mukaijima at around 8 o’clock; there’s a light shower that increases in intensity as I walk eastwards along Route 24. Everywhere is closed for a good couple of hours, except the odd family restaurant – so I eat breakfast at Gusto: three American-style pancakes, butter, maple syrup and baikingu sutairu (Viking style – the Japanese for ‘All You Can Eat’) free orange juice for 400 yen (about £2).

My local area technically represents the line between Kyoto and Uji (the direction Route 24 heads), so just how south of Kyoto I am really hits home. It’s not really in the middle of nowhere, justt between two somewheres. Still, it’s pretty well serviced. There’re three nearby supermarkets, a couple of 100 yen shops (which have helped immensely for instant essentials), post office, bank, and so on. And of course, two McDonald’s and a KFC. Other sights that caught my eye include the local pachinko parlour, Hikuri Donkey (a hamburger joint seemingly constructed from leftover parts of Chessington World of Adventures’ Wild West land) and the local DVD/CD/game/comic emporium, complete with Godzilla statue bursting out of a cage.

However, after I got back to my room, I completely zonked out for a few hours, so I returned to the supermarket, dazed and confused, to do my first shop. Supermarkets in the UK are overwhelming enough with so much packaging screaming out at you, but when they’re screaming Japanese and you’re still suffering from jetlag, it’s even more skull-numbing. I end up with food, but no cutlery and crockery except for a saucepan and chopsticks. Dinner that night is Marmite toast (spreading the butter and Marmite with my chopsticks) and expired Duchy Original biscuits…ahem…

The next day’s shop is more successful and so it has continued, with further exploration (Asiri took me and three German girls to Midori – department store - to buy rice cooker, but I just eyed up the kettles) and further purchases (Bowls! Plates! Cutlery!).

Part 3 Coming Soon - promise to be up to date soon!